Improved railway-rail



da @gy @anni i @fitta HENRY ZAHN, or T'oLE-Do, oHIo.'

Leners PatmzuNo. 84,401, cmd Nummer 24, 186s.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-RAIL. d,

The Schedule referred to in these Lettere Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY ZAHN, of Toledo, in .the county of Lucas, and State of Ohic, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Rails;a11d I do hereby declare that the followiugis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification in which- Figure l is a side View of my improved raiL Figure 2 is a cross-section ofthe same through the line a: a: of iig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide' a railroadrail combining several advantageous qualities.

It consists in forming the rail in two parts, "namely, a solid bar or rail proper, supported by a hollouT base, of triangular section, and having a longitudinal opening along its upper partyinto which a tongue on the rail tits, as will be more clearly set forth by ,reference to the drawings, in which- A is the rail proper, having atongue, b, and lips e e. The tongue fits within an opening in the upper part ofthe base, B, which is a hollow triangular rail, formed by casting the metal. in that form, or bending it by suitable machinery.

The sides of the hollow base terminate in vertical shoulders, a (t, between which' the tongue b tits, and upon which the weight of the rail A rests.

The lips e e form, with the tongue,V recesses, inwhich v the upper edges of the parts/6c rest, thus holding it securely.

The rail A and its base are afiixed together' by bolts, (l, passing through longitudinal slots in the tongue and the parts a c, as shown. The rail and the base break joints, and thus form a continuous rail, which, how ever, will expand or contract without breaking.

The downward pressure of cars upon the rail A acts to bring the parts a. a toward each other,.and thereby pinch the tongue, as the keystone of au arch is pinched, aud thus lessening the ei'ect of percussion and vibration in direct proportion to the downward pressure'on the rail.

The hollow metallic base also aiords sufiicient support to permit the cross-ties to be located much further apart than is usually requisite.

Having thus described my invention,

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patentrlhe hollow elastic base, B, having,inwardly-inelined 

